Yo! Tired of social media apps? Here’s a new one: Galaxia

1of 2Ryan Hoover, founder and CEO of tech-ratings site Product Hunt, said
the sheer magnitude of new apps and social media platforms have made it
difficult to cut through the noise.Photo: Brant Ward, Staff Photographer / The Chronicle

2of 2Screen shot of the Galaxia social network.Photo: Handout

Last year, as Moshe Hogeg was pushing out yet another update to his 6-year-old social media app —one that was long ago eclipsed by Facebook and Instagram — an employee asked him a question he had never asked himself.

“Why are we still doing this?” the product manager asked. “Isn’t the social game over?”

Maybe not quite yet, thought Hogeg, the founder of the celebrity-backed Israeli incubator and investment fund Singulariteam who also created the briefly infamous one-trick messaging app Yo.

In his quest to prove it, Hogeg created Galaxia.

Galaxia is a social network built on the premise of allowing users to enter different worlds based on different personas they carry within themselves — the sports fan, the reality TV junkie, the professional, and so on. Hogeg’s brainchild enters the techscape with a version for iPhones on Thursday, at a time when social media giants like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat dominate people’s time and smartphones.

For new apps, getting attention and attracting users can be a challenge — even when the tech and media elite rally around a product.

Ryan Hoover, founder and CEO of tech-ratings site Product Hunt, said the sheer magnitude of new apps and social media platforms have made it difficult to cut through the noise.

The social messaging app lets you send "yo" as a message."

Photo: Life Before Us, LLC

“There’s a subset of people who are really into trying new things, and are more likely to explore how something works or see if it might be useful in their life,” Hoover said. “So a lot of these new apps will see a huge spike in traffic on launch day and may not see much after that. It’s very, very hard for companies to see sustained growth.”

Though its appearance is futuristic and otherworldly, Galaxia’s appeal is based in something more retro: the ease of switching personas between chatrooms or creating small social spaces specific to a user’s varied interests, like GeoCities or Yahoo Groups.

It will enable users to invite others to join their “worlds” and keep them separate — so your recreational basketball teammates can’t see the videos of the vacation you just took with your family, and vice versa.

Users can invite others, or request to join worlds that belong to people they do or don’t know.

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Some worlds, which Hogeg says might include exclusive content generated by celebrities or media companies, can be made subscription-based.

Keeping the app anonymous, Hogeg said, removes inhibition and allows users to be their “full selves.” In that way, it’s kind of like Reddit. Though Hogeg insists there won’t be any issues with bullying or abuse.

“Like in real life, if you want be a part of a community, you have to be accountable to other people to stay a part of it,” Hogeg said. “It’s not just a graffiti wall. It’s not public space. It’s tiny. It’s mini social networks. I think we’ll see the beautiful side of anonymity, not the bullying, ugly side of it.”

The difference between apps that succeed and those that don’t is not always obvious.

There is no clear “it factor,” Hoover said, other than providing something new or different in which people find fun or utility.

“It’s cliche, but the right place and right time is really important,” Hoover said. “I don’t think social media is over. There’s always going to be a better product ... that will improve how we use social media today. The problem is getting over that social fatigue we’re certainly all feeling.”

Marissa Lang covers the intersection of technology and culture for the San Francisco Chronicle, focusing on how the tech industry and technology itself influence and reshape the Bay Area, its people and communities. She covers Twitter, Facebook and the influence of social media, diversity in tech, and the rise of fake news. Marissa joined the Chronicle in 2015. Previously, she covered City Hall for the Sacramento Bee, criminal justice and same-sex marriage for the Salt Lake Tribune and breaking news for the Tampa Bay Times. Born and raised in New York City, Marissa feels the most comfortable in bustling metropolises and is interested in issues of diversity and social justice. Se habla español.